At midnight on November 11, 1864, Major General William T. Sherman sent the message below to Union Chief of Staff Henry Halleck in Washington. He was heading for Savannah, Georgia and wanted Major General John Foster, commander of the Union’s Department of the South, to destroy the Savannah and Charleston Railroad in the area of Pocotaligo for two reasons. The first was so that reinforcements and supplies could not be sent to Savannah from Charleston, and the second was to prevent the escape of Confederate Lieutenant General William Hardee’s 10,000 man force from Savannah.

Foster and Rear Admiral John Dahlgren organized a force they called the Coastal Division, which was made up of 5,000 infantry and 500 Sailors and Marines under the command of Brigadier General John Hatch. The infantry would come not only from Hilton Head but also Morris Island, Folly Island, North Carolina and Jacksonville, Florida. Foster planned, with help from the Navy, to move up the Broad River on the evening of November 28th and land at Boyd’s Landing. From there, the next day, they would march nine miles through Grahamville to the Gopher Hill Station (present day Ridgeland) on the Charleston and Savannah Railroad and tear up the railroad. This route bypassed Confederate defenses at Pocotaligo and Coosawhatchie. Troops from Morris and Folly Islands sailed for Hilton Head on November 27th where they rendezvoused with the rest of the force. At 2:00 AM on the 29th a signal flare arched over the harbor and the transports set out up the Broad River on their 20-mile trip.

The only surviving building from the village of Grahamville.

The Union infantry would consist of two brigades and artillery. The 1st Brigade was commanded by Brigadier General Edward Potter and was made up of the 56th, 127th, 144th, and 157th NY, the 25th OH, as well as 3 regiments of US Colored Troops (USCT) the 32nd, 34th, and 35th USCT. The 2nd Brigade was commanded by Colonel Alfred Hartwell and made up of all USCTs- the 26th and 102nd USCTs, as well as the 54th and 55th MA. Lieutenant Colonel Ames would lead the artillery, which consisted of three batteries: from the 3rd RI Artillery- Hamner’s Battery A; and from the 3rd NY Artillery- Mersereau’s Battery B and Titus’s Battery F. The Second Fleet Brigade assembled by Rear Admiral Dahlgren consisted of three battalions: sailors acting as infantry; marines; and boat artillery. A total of about 500 men under the overall command of Commander George Henry Preble. The four companies of the sailor/infantry battalion were commanded by Lieutenant James O’Kane (164 men). The three companies of marines were led by First Lieutenant George G. Stoddard (160 men). The boat artillery, a total of 16 guns was commanded by Lieutenant Commander E. Orville Matthews (six smoothbores, two rifled guns, and eight bronze Dahlgren boat howitzers).

The morning was extremely foggy which delayed the Federals departure until 4:00 AM. The army and navy traveled separately. The navy with a very experienced pilot moved slowly on their 20-mile trek with Dahlgren reaching Boyd’s Neck at 8:00 AM. Only the Wissahickon had grounded in route and was delayed. The 28 army transports had much more trouble. Some went up the wrong river, several ran aground, while others just anchored and waited for the fog to lift. These problems completely disrupted the army’s planned landing order. The vessels at the head of the column when they departed, carrying cavalry to scout the roads and engineers needed to build wharves, instead of arriving first arrived last. General Hatch, aboard the transport Fraser with Companies G and H of the 54th MA made it to the landing shortly after Admiral Dahlgren. Lieutenant Colonel Henry Hooper went ashore with the two companies of the 54th MA and secured the landing site. Rebel pickets witnessed their arrival. Confederate Cavalry scouts also saw the ships headed upriver and both sounded the alarm.

William Miller rode to his outpost headquarters and reported the Federal’s landing to Lieutenant Thomas Heyward Howard. Howard sent a rider to district headquarters at Grahamville to notify Captain Edward Fraser, who received Howard’s dispatch at about 10:00 AM. He quickly sent telegrams to Generals Beverly Roberson at Adams Run, William Hardee in Savannah, and Samuel Jones in Charleston. Colonel Charles Colcock commander of the 3rd SC Military District which covered the area between the Combahee and Savannah Rivers, was not nearby at the time. He and three companies of his horse artillery were building defenses at crossing points along the Savannah River in the event that Sherman decided to bypass Savannah for Port Royal. Colcock would have to be notified by a system of courier relays along the 50-mile route between Grahamville and Matthew’s Bluff, where Colcock was located. Colonel Colcock who was to be married on the 30th, cancelled his wedding, mounted his horse, and rode the 50 miles to Grahamville arriving there by 7:00 AM the next day. His second in command, Major Jenkins boarded a train in Charleston for Pocotaligo. By 10:00 AM, while most of the Federal infantry were still on their ships, Confederate authorities in Charleston and Savannah were aware of the raid. When Dahlgren and Hatch arrived there were only four companies of the 3rd SC Cavalry (246 men) and four batteries of artillery (Beaufort Volunteer Artillery, Bachman’s Battery, Lafayette Artillery, and Furman Artillery), a total of only 450 men in the area.

Two field fortifications guarded the roads to Grahamville and the railroad depot at Gopher Hill, a mile further west. The first was two miles east of Grahamville at Honey Hill, which consisted of two lunettes and trench lines started in late 1861 by Thomas Clingman’s North Carolinians. One lunette was near the road between Bolan Church and Grahamville (on LiDAR the wartime road passes through the lunette), while the second was a half mile to the north. The area in front of the fortification was cleared of trees. The second field fortification was south of Bee’s Creek near where the Bee’s Creek Road crossed the Grahamville Road. It protected both the approach to Coosawhatchie and Grahamville. The Bee’s Creek fortifications had been maintained by the Confederates, but those at Honey Hill had been neglected and were in need of repair. There were no men in the earthworks at Honey Hill when the Federals landed. If Hatch could get through the meager defenses in his path and to the railroad quickly before reinforcements arrived, he would be able to wreck the railroad.

While waiting for Colonel Colcock or Major Jenkins to arrive Captain Fraser needed to do the best he could to delay the Federals movement toward the railroad. He ordered Captain Earle to bring up a section of artillery currently camped along the May River and sent Captain Louis DeSaussure to reconnoiter the Federals. He also recalled Company K of the 3rd SC Cavalry commanded by Captain Peeples who had just left for Savannah. Peeples and his men were sent up the Bolan Causeway toward Boyd’s Landing. Major Jenkins would reach Pocotaligo Station in the early afternoon on the 29th. In the meantime, Hatch ordered Commander Preble to take his naval brigade and occupy the junction of Boyd’s Landing Road and Coosawhatchie Road. Federal maps showed the Boyd’s Landing Road crossing the Coosawhatchie Road and continuing on directly to Grahamville. Much to their surprise after they advanced two miles Boyd’s Landing Road dead-ended into the Coosawhatchie Road. Preble decided to turn right (the wrong direction) and headed north with Lieutenant Commander Alexander Crossman and fifteen sailors. Shortly thereafter they encountered enemy pickets. Colonel Baird, with most of the 32nd USCT came up and with Preble’s men continued two miles farther north reaching an abandoned earthwork where they stopped.

Back at Boyd’s Landing most of Potter’s brigade had come ashore. By 3:30 PM General Potter arrived and took command of the 127th, 144th and 157th NY, 25th OH, 35th USCT, and the 4th MA cavalry. Colonel Hartwell was left in charge of the landing and Hatch accompanied Potter’s brigade as they moved out. Potter followed the route taken by the naval brigade and the 32nd USCT, and encountered them cooking supper. Shortly thereafter Potter learned that they had taken the wrong road. The Federals turned around and headed back toward Boyd’s Landing Road. They arrived there near sunset. The column under Hatch continued south to Bethel Episcopal Chapel, also known as the Bolan Church. Here they drove off some Confederate pickets. The church was located where a road led to the west toward Grahamville and Honey Hill. Instead of turning right Hatch’s guide led the Federals south for four miles before realizing the error. They then countermarched back to the church, which they reached sometime between 2-3:00 AM where the column halted for the remainder of the evening. Their circuitous path is shown in the map below. With their marches and countermarches on the 29th the Federals wasted a tremendous opportunity. There were only 450 Confederates in the area that day and Hatch could have easily marched to the railroad with better maps and guides. Instead they had given the Confederates an extra day to get reinforcements to Honey Hill.

When Jenkins received reports that the Federals were headed north along the road to Coosawhatchie he sent Captain Raysor’s company to join the pickets skirmishing with the Federals there, and the Beaufort Artillery from Pocotaligo to the fortifications at Bee’s Hill. Jenkins also ordered the rest of Earle’s Battery to Grahamville. General Jones sent Captain Campbell’s cavalry company on a forced march from Johns Island to Pocotaligo. Jenkins headed to Grahamville arriving there about 4:00 PM. Jenkins’ superiors were working hard to forward troops to Grahamville. In Savannah, General Hardee was making plans to forward on 3,200 Georgia militia, state troops, and reserves once they arrived from Thomasville, Georgia. General Jones in Charleston was dispatching two regiments (about 700 men). General Bragg in Augusta was loading 1,000 South Carolina reserves and a 2,000-man North Carolina brigade onto trains. The Confederates would have more than enough reinforcements if they could make it in time.

By the evening of the 29th Jenkins had deployed his small force as best he could. Bachman’s artillery company and the recently arrived Company B, 3rd SC Cavalry, who had completed a seventy-mile forced march from Johns Island were at Pocotaligo. The Beaufort and Lafayette artillery batteries were at the Bee’s Hill fortification. Company E and parts of Companies C and I of the 3rd SC Cavalry guarded the Coosawhatchie Road north of Bee’s Creek. Captain Peeples’s Company K, 3rd SC Cavalry, were on the road between Grahamville and Bolan Church. Captain Earle and his Furman artillery were in Grahamville after a thirty-five-mile march from Bluffton.

The unreliable Confederate railroad system was making the situation more difficult. Bragg’s men from Augusta were delayed by a breakdown on the railroad 112 miles from Charleston. In Charleston, General Jones was struggling forwarding the 32nd and 47th GA. The steamer carrying the 32nd GA to Charleston grounded. The train carrying the 47th GA was delayed by an inbound train from Savannah occupying the rails. The 47th GA would arrive at Honey Hill between 11-12 AM the next day and the 32nd GA arrived at 4:30 PM that same day and were held in reserve. The only group of reinforcements that could be routed to the battlefield by the morning of the 30th were the 1st Division of the Georgia Militia (1,240 men) commanded by Major General Gustavus W. Smith, which Hardee knew were on their way to Savannah. The militia had fought Sherman at Griswoldville on November 22nd. Their route to Grahamville is shown in the map below. They were expected to arrive in Savannah on the evening of the 29th.

They left on the 25th from Macon for a 100 mile train ride to Albany. After marching 50 miles further south to Thomasville they boarded a train for Savannah. There were just 2 train cars in Thomasville so only part of the group made the trip to Savannah including the Augusta and Athens Battalions of the Confederate Reserve Force, Governor Brown’s Georgia State Line and a militia brigade. Smith and his men arrived in Savannah late on the evening of the 29th. The problem was that the men who were Georgia militia were prohibited from leaving the state under Georgia law. General Hardee would need to persuade Smith otherwise. He argued that it would not be in the city of Savannah’s best interest to have the Union cut the railroad from Charleston. General Smith and his men agreed and continued on the train to Grahamville and were scheduled to arrive at 8:00 AM on the morning of the 30th. Smith assured his men that they would be back in Georgia within 48 hours.

At dawn on the 30th Major Jenkins rode from Pocotaligo to Grahamville. He stopped at the fortifications near Bee’s Creek on the way and ordered four guns from there moved to Grahamville. After reaching Grahamville, he ordered all available cavalrymen and artillerymen to start readying the earthworks at Honey Hill for use. He ordered an additional gun to join Zealy’s cannons and Captain Peeples’s infantry in slowing the Federal advance toward Honey Hill from Bolan Church. After finalizing these arrangements he rode to the railroad depot at Gopher Hill where Colonel Colcock had recently arrived. Colcock had ridden all night and arrived at the depot around 7:00 AM. His only stop was at Robertville where he met with his fiancée and her family to explain why the wedding needed to be delayed. Twenty minutes later the first of several trains arrived with Smith’s men from Georgia. Colonel Colcock and several men from his staff departed to locate a defensive position for the Georgians. At Grahamville he ordered Captain Hal Stuart to move the three guns of his Beaufort Artillery to the Bellfield Causeway, which was west and parallel to Bolan Causeway in order to better protect his southern flank. Colcock decided to fight behind a series of earthworks at Honey Hill created under the supervision of Robert E. Lee when he commanded in the area from November of 1861 to February 1862 located about three miles east of the railroad on the Grahamville Road. Colonel Colcock realized that he needed to buy time to prepare his defenses and sent Captain Peeples forward with about 100 cavalrymen and a 12-pounder cannon to act as skirmishers to slow the Union advance. They first set up about a mile and a half in front of the earthworks at Honey Hill.

Before daylight on the morning of the 30th Hatch, concerned about the delays of the previous day, started organizing his force for a move west on the Grahamville Road from the Bolan Church. Two companies of the 54th Massachusetts were left behind to guard the intersection. Forty men from the 4th MA Cavalry were at the head of the column as skirmishers and moved out around 8:00 AM. Behind them was Potter’s brigade, led by the 127th NY, part of Battery F- 3rd NY Artillery, the 25th OH, and the 144th and 157th NY. They were followed by the remainder of the brigade, remaining artillery, the naval brigade, and parts of Hartwell’s brigade that had come up from the landing. Very quickly the MA cavalrymen came under fire from Captain Peeples’s skirmishers and Lieutenant Zealy’s cannon. Shortly thereafter, Zealy was joined by Lieutenant Graham and his artillery piece, which was placed in the road to the right of Zealy’s gun. The Union cavalrymen pulled back as the 127th New York deployed in a skirmish line across the road and advanced. Potter directed the 25th Ohio to form behind the New Yorkers and ordered the 144th NY to the right. Lieutenant Edward Wildt’s two cannons supported by the 32nd USCT were positioned at the northeastern end of the causeway. The Federal infantry deployed slowly and during that interval 60 Confederate cavalrymen from two companies (I and B) of the 3rd SC arrived to aid Peeples.

Potter deployed his men on both sides of the road. The right advanced through a grassy field while the left of the road was a thick forest and swampy. The Confederate skirmishers dropped back a few hundred yards and set up again. On the Union right the 144th NY was advancing and Colonel Colcock ordered his men to set the field the Federals were crossing on fire. The dry grass and strong breeze drove the flames toward the Union soldiers driving them further to the right. The 32nd USCT charged up the causeway. While the fields were burning Colcock left behind a skirmish line and moved his main line back a mile to the rear. Potter followed with a heavier skirmish line with the 127th NY to the left of the road, the 56th NY in the center, and the 144th on the right. Behind them were the 25th Ohio and the 32nd USCT, followed by the rest of the brigade and the artillery. As the Federals inched forward General Smith’s Georgians arrived and were deployed, as shown in the map below, in the earthworks. The Confederate right extended into a swampy area while the left moved off into a pine forest. The 1,400 Georgians manned most of the line except the far left where two companies of Colcock’s regiment were placed commanded by Major John Jenkins. Smith’s men quickly started clearing and improving the line. They removed bushes and other growth and cut down trees for use as headlogs atop the earthworks.

As Smith’s men readied their fighting line, three-quarters of a mile to their front the Federals reached Colcock’s second position. From about 800 yards away Lieutenant Wildt’s gunners fired 20 rounds into Colcock’s second skirmish line and they fell back to the main line around 11:00 AM. A Confederate shell struck Wildt in the groin, nearly severing his leg. Surgeon Henry Orlando Marcy of the 35th USCT, using a pocketknife, amputated his leg at the thigh. A few hours later Wildt died. When Colcock fell back to the earthworks General Smith turned over command to him. As the Federals followed the retreating southerners the road which had turned to the right now turned back to the left and Hatch’s men got their first look at the Confederates’ main defense line where they came under artillery fire. The Federals deployed as shown in the map below.

Potter ordered the 35th USCT, under Colonel Beecher, to fill the gap between the 127th NY on the left and the 144th NY on the right. They would be moving into one of the most exposed positions on the battlefield. As the 35th USCT tried to fill the gap they came under heavy fire and were pushed back. The 144th NY was pinned down to the right of the Grahamville Road but a portion of the unit were able to take cover behind an old dam embankment. To their right Lieutenant Colonel Haughton, moved the 25th OH forward through the woods toward a 20-yard-wide swamp, which was about 100 yards from the Confederate line. The 32nd USCT deployed to the right of the Ohioans. When the 25th OH shifted left the 32nd USCT also moved left where they encountered a heavy bog and could not advance. Preble’s naval brigade was dispatched to the Union right beyond the 32nd USCT at noon. Early in the afternoon, Colonel Alfred Hartwell moved forward with eight companies of the 55th MA commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Charles Fox and two companies of the 54th MA under Lieutenant Colonel Henry Hooper. The 26th, 34th, and 102nd USCT still had not come up. As Hartwell approached the front, he was ordered to support the 35th USCT located behind the guns. As he formed his men he was ordered to send part of his brigade to support Lieutenant Colonel Stewart Woodford’s 127th NY. Lieutenant Colonel Hooper formed his two companies on the left of the 127th NY.

Woodford believed his regiment could break the Confederate line to his front where their trench line curved down from the lunette close to the marsh. Hartwell tried to send his eight companies forward but could not advance under heavy fire. These initial advances went unsupported by Crocker’s artillery due to overheated guns, and lack of ammunition. To make matters worse he could not remove his battery because all of his horses had either been killed or wounded. Lieutenant Edgar Titus had been ordered to the front with his battery (Battery F, 3rd New York Artillery) but had not yet arrived. Despite the lack of artillery support, Hartwell reformed five companies of the 55th MA (300 men) into a column and moved forward to support the 127th NY. As they moved around the bend in the road they came under heavy fire. Captain Crane was killed, and shell fragments hit Colonel Harwell’s horse who fell pinning the colonel under him. Hartwell lost consciousness and was trapped as his men continued on. Lieutenant Winthrop Boynton, commander of the lead company, was killed. He fell near his close friend Captain Crane. The charge lasted less than 10 minutes. Some of the Black soldiers made it to within 20 yards of the Confederate line before they were driven back. Two-thirds of the Hartwell’s men were killed or wounded. The remnants of the regiment continued to take casualties as they fell back. Among those wounded was Private John H. Patterson, a member of the color guard who carried the state flag. Andrew Jackson Smith, who stood next to Patterson, seized the state flag as well and maintained a prominent position on the field. Although the attack was unsuccessful, it focused the attention of the Confederates in the lunette on the Grahamville Road. This gave the 127th NY, on the far Union left on the opposite side of the road, the chance to move forward undetected through the swamp and across the stream behind the Confederate line. General Smith, worried about such a possibility, kept the 47th GA commanded by Colonel Aaron Edwards in reserve Edwards counterattacked and drove the New Yorkers back, forcing them back across the creek. After the failures of the 55th MA and 127th NY to break the Rebel line, the Federals were content to exchanging fire with the Confederates until they could withdraw under the cover of darkness.

Hatch lost over 750 men with the 25th OH and 55th MA particularly hard hit. Eighty eight were killed, 623 wounded and 43 missing. The Confederates suffered about 50 casualties with 4-8 killed. Confederate reinforcements continued to arrive the next day and General Smith’s militia returned to Georgia. Sherman would capture Savannah but Hatch’s failure to destroy the railroad played a role in allowing Hardee and his men to flee the city and continue fighting in the war.

The failures in Union Brigadier General Hatch’s generalship were summarized after the war by Captain Charles Soule of the 55th MA in two articles he wrote for the Philadelphia Weekly Times in 1884. They can be found in the New Annals of the Civil War book referenced below. There was a failure to reconnoiter the area that led to troops getting lost and the lost time allowed the Confederates to form a reinforced defensive line. This despite the fact that the Union had plenty of opportunity to reconnoiter the area and could have obtained valuable information from escaped slaves many of whom were in the Army. Second, the invasion fleet had only one competent pilot. Third, Potter’s brigade did not start their march toward Grahamville until 9:00 AM on the day of the battle instead of at dawn as they were ordered. Several hours of valuable time were lost. Fourth, there were no attempts made to reconnoiter the enemy’s flanks and sequential piecemeal attacks were launched into the strength of the enemy’s position.

Andrew Jackson Smith was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions during the battle. Smith was a corporal in the 55th MA. His unit came under heavy fire while crossing the swamp in front of the Confederate line. The 55th’s colorbearer was killed and Smith carried the flag during the remainder of the battle and for this action was awarded the Medal of Honor. Smith was nominated for the medal in 1916, but was denied based on a lack of documentation. His commander didn’t included an account of Smith’s actions in his official report. In 2001, 137 years later, President Clinton presented the Medal of Honor to several of Smith’s descendants. 

A tour of the battlefield will be shown in the next post.

Sources

The Battle of Honey Hill, South Carolina Wednesday, 30 November 1864 by Lowell D. Hamilton

Rebellion, Reconstruction, and Redemption, 1861-1893, The History of Beaufort County, South Carolina, Volume 2 by Stephen R. Wise and Lawrence S. Rowland

Smokescreen at Honey Hill by Peter Cozzens Civil War Times Illustrated February 2000

The Fight at Honey Hill by William Harris Bragg Civil War Times Illustrated January 1984

A Confederate Victory at Grahamville by Leonne M Hudson South Carolina Historical Magazine 94 (January 1993): 19-33. Downloaded from jstor.org. This article also appears in The Civil War in South Carolina Selections from the South Carolina Historical Society edited by Lawrence S. Rowland and Stephen G. Hoffius.

The War in the Lowcountry: Part II: TheBattle of Honey Hill by Bert Dunkerly posted on November 30, 2023. Emerging Civil War

South Carolina Department of Archives and History

Sherman’s Letter to Halleck. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies. Series I, Vol. 39 part three, page 740

The Battle of Honey Hill, S.C. Written Accounts of the Battle. by Gary Myers. Nice link to the OR reports of the battle

The New Annals of the Civil War Edited by Peter Cozzens and Robert Girardi. The Battle of Honey Hill Charles C. Soule.

The Civil War in My South Carolina Lowcountry by James L. Harvey Jr.

Carrying the Colors: The Life and Legacy of Medal of Honor Recipient Andrew Jackson Smith by W. Robert Beckman